Wire-cutter



F. X. RATKOVIC. wma CUTTER. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 5, 192.0.

Patented Apr. 5, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

FRANK X. RA'IKOVIC, 0F ETNA, PENNSYLVANIA.

WRE-CUTTER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

`Patented Apr. 5, 1921/.

Application filed March 5, 1920. Serial No. 363,393.

1o all 2li/0m t may concern.'

Be it known that l, FRANK X. RATKOWQ.

a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Etna, in the county of Alrllegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful improvements in 'Wireluttera of which the .following is a specilication.

rlhis invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in wire cutters parn ticularly adapted to be adjustably mounted upon the blade 0i1 a bayonet or other suitable support and automatically operated to cut wire or the like when the device is thrust forwardly into engagement with the wire.

rlhe principal object of this invention is to provide a wire cutter attachment oit the above type which isextremely simple and durable in construction and which may readily be mounted upon or detached from the blade or a bayonet.

further object et the invention is to provide a bayonet attachment in the form of a wire cutter comprising an attachingsleeve having links pivoted thereto, the

links being also pivoted to the handles of a pair of wire shears and being normally contracted by a spring so as to normally hold the cutting jaws of the wire shears open for being automatically actuated to cut the wire upon a forward thrust exerted by the operator or user.

l/Vith the above general objects in view and others that will appear as the nature of the invention is better understood, the same consists in the novel form, combination and arrangement oi parts hereinafter more fully described in connection with the ac companying drawings.

ln the drawings wherein like reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views,

Figure 1 is an elevational view of a wire cutter constructed in accordance with the present invention and show'n operatively mounted upon a bayonet which is carried by the muzzle of a gun, the bayonet blade being partly broken away, Q

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the device shown in Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1 looking at the opposite side of the device and with the bayonet removed from the gun, the shears of the cutter being shown in their position after being thrust forwardly for cutting a wire,

Fig. l is an enlarged perspective view of one of the links which is connected to one of the shear handles,

'Fig 5 is an enlarged transverse sectional view taken substantially upon line V-`V of Fig. 1,

Fig. 6 is an enlarged transverse sectional detail View, partly broken away and showing the sleeve for mounting the wire cutter upon the blade of a bayonet, and Fig. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of one of the cutter blades oli` the device.

Referring more in detail to the several views, the present invention comprises a sleeve 5 of such size as to snugly slide onto the bayonet blade G and adapted to assume a position adjacent the handle Z of said bayonet where it is secured by means of a set screw 8 which is threaded through the sleeve 5 so that its inner end may bear upon the side of the plate 6. The bayonet is provided with the usual apertured member 9 for mounting the bayonet upon the barrel 10 of a gun.

The sleeve 5 is provided with a depend.- ing pivot pin 11 which has the inner ends of a pair oi links 12 and 13 pivoted thereon, said links being held on the pin 11 by heading the latter as at 14C or the like, suitable washers 15 being placed upon vthe pinl 11 for spacing the links suliiciently from the adjacent edge `of the blade 6 and from the head 14C as will be apparent. A pair of wire shears are carried by the links 12 and 13 by pivoting the i''ree end oi' the handle 16 of said shears to the forward end of the link 12 as at 17 and by pivoting the 4other handle 18 or the shears to the :forward end of the link 13 as at 19. .The .handle 16 is provided with an integral cutting blade 20` ofthe usual form, and the handle 18 is provided with a similar cutting blade 21, said yso blades 20 and 21 being pivotally connected as at 22 by a pivot pin which passes through said blades. The last mentioned pivot pin has a sleeve 23 rigid therewith which is slidably mounted upon the blade 6 as shown clearly in Figs. 1, 2 and 5, and this sleeve insures against lateral strains upon the wire cutter when the links 12 and 13 and handles 16 and 18 are swung inwardly and outwardly when the cutting Vblades 20 and 21 to normal position after the cutting operation.

12 and 13 are provided with lateral rigid studs 24 adjacent the `pivotal connections 17 and 19, and the opposite ends of a tension spring 25 are attached to these studs, the spring 25 thereby serving to normally hold the links 12 and 13 as shown 1n Fig. 1 with the cutting blades 20 and 21 open for reception of a wire therebetween. The link 12 ,is provided with a second laterally extending rigid stud 26 adjacent the pin 11 of the sleeve 5 arranged to engage the adjacent edge of the link 13 so as to limit the swinging movement of the links 12 and 13 toward each other. Y

From the foregoing, it will be seen that with the parts positioned in their normal relation as shown in Fig. 1, the device is thrust forwardly so as to cause the wire to be cut to pass in between the cutting edges of the jaws of blades 20 and 21, and upon further forward thrusting movement of the device the shears are caused to move rearwardly and by reason of the connection of their handles 16 and 18 with the links 12 and 13, said handles ,are caused to spread or separate against the action of the spring 25 so yas to cause the wire to be cut when the cutting edges of the blades 20 and 21 pass-each other as shown in Fig. 3. As soon as vthe wireV is cut, the springVV 25 draws the links 12 and 13 toward each other for simultaneously moving the shears forwardly and bringing their handles 1G and 18 toward each other so that the device is again in the condition shown in Fig. 1. It will be seen that during the above described operation the sleeve 23 slides upon the blade 6 and insures a rigid attachment of the wire cutter to the bayonet at all times.

AFrom the foregoing description, it isrbelievedV that the construction and operation The links kas well as the advantages of the present invention will be readily understood and Vappreciated by these skilled in the art.

Minor changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. f

What l claim iszy Y 1. ln combination with a bayonet including a blade having a handle, a wire cutter attachment for said bayonet including a sleeve formed to slide onto the bayonet blade and to snugly fit the latter when assuming a position adjacent the handle of the bayonet, means carried by said sleeve to clamp the same adjacent the handle against movement on the blade, a pair of links having their inner ends pivoted to said sleeve to swing toward and away from each other in a plane at'right angles to the plane of the bayonet blade, a pair of wire shears includingnon-crossed blade-carrying handles each having one end pivoted to the outer end of one of said links, a second sleeve slidably mounted upon the bayonet blade Vand having means pivotally connecting said handles of the wire shears, whereby rearward` movement of the second-named sleeve on and relative to the bayonet blade will cause movement of the cutting blades of the shears toward'each other for cutting a wire disposed therebetween, and a. tension spring eX- tending between and connected to said links for swinging the latter forwardly toward each other, whereby the second named sleeve is yieldably maintained in a forward position with the cutting blades open. i

2. ln'combination with a bayonet including a blade having a handle, a wire cutter attachment for said bayonet including a sleeve formed to slide onto the bayonet blade and to snugly fit the latter when assuming a position adjacent the handle of the bayonet, means carried by said sleeve to clamp the same adjacent the handle against movement on the blade, a pair oflinks havingtheir inner ends pivoted to said sleeve to swing toward and away from each other in a plane at right angles to the plane of the bayonet blade, a pair of wire shears including noncrossed' blade-carrying handles each having one end pivoted to the outer end of one of said links, a second 'sleeve slidably mounted upon the bayonet blade and having means pivotally connecting said handles of the wire shears, whereby rearward movement of the second-named sleeve on and relative to theV bayonet blade will canse movement of the cutting blades of the shears toward each other for cutting a wire disposed therebetween, a tension spring extending between and connected to said links for swinging the latter forwardly toward each other, whereby the second named sleeve is yieldably maintained in a forward position with the cutting blades open, and a transversely extending stud carried by one of said links arranged to engage the adjacent edge of the other link so as to limit the swinging movement of said links toward each other.

ln testimony whereof l affix my signature.

FRANK X. RATKOVIC. 

